On May 18, 2010, The Firearm Blog reported on yet another company developing yet another gas piston/op-rod AR (AR-15) rifle/carbine/SBR (Short Barreled Rifle) platform. The company is Holland Automatic Rifles (HAR). The piston/op-rod (operating rod) system is a tri-vent/progressive-vent, vectored-exhaust, recoil-attenuating/mitigating system that, according to “John” at HAR, requires little-to-no lubrication and runs cool. Here’s exactly what “John” had to say–or, in this case, write–about it:

It works on a new principal, of venting most of the unused gasses before they enter the piston. Then actuates the piston, before venting at the mid cycle, then vents a third time as it returns to rest. All of the exhaust gasses are vectored, so as to reduce muzzle climb, and torque twist. This principal has proven to need little or no lubrication, and acts as a cooling aid as well.

DefenseReview (DR) would like to provide our readers with a website URL and/or phone phone number and email address for HAR, but we can’t, since The Firearm Blog didn’t provide any of this information and there’s no evidence of the company’s existence via Google search, other than third-party sources linking to the The Firearm Blog piece. It’s therefore likely that the company doesn’t have a website. HAR may be a one man operation operating out of a grarage–which is o.k., and something to be supported by the community–but it still would be nice to have some kind of contact info for them so we can call them to find out more about the system. It’s of course possible that Holland Automatic Rifles does have a website, and DR just can’t find it.

For the record, Defense Review welcomes another piston/op-rod AR system, and we appreciate the heads-up from The Firearm Blog. We just hope the new HAR piston AR isn’t vaporware, and, if not, that it works as advertised. It had better, because it’s entering a congested piston AR field and will be going up against well-established piston systems by name companies, companies with websites.

About David Crane

David Crane started publishing online in 2001. Since that time, governments, military organizations, Special Operators (i.e. professional trigger pullers), agencies, and civilian tactical shooters the world over have come to depend on Defense Review as the authoritative source of news and information on "the latest and greatest" in the field of military defense and tactical technology and hardware, including tactical firearms, ammunition, equipment, gear, and training.